Drip, drip, drip...
This is the rain that takes us from spring to summer. Slow, steady, soaking, continous…the plants, flowers, shrubs, turf and trees drinking deeply and without stopping, water coursing through roots and...
View ArticleStinky orchids...Bulbophyllum echinolabium
At long last I am about to bloom Bulbophyllum echinolabium under lights. Something of a geek's delight--the plant's flower is fabulous and large, but its scent is a dead ringer for decaying mouse--I've...
View ArticleWhooo-eeee!
Land sakes! It's May 19 and thar's frost on the windshield......global-what?
View ArticleA place for everything and everything in its place...
Out front, near the end of the driveway, a titanic struggle is underway—really two struggles for one plot of real estate. A VW Beetle-sized shrub(s) of multi-flora rose (yes, I know all about it...but...
View ArticleWhat to do (or not) about Paeonia droop...
The drooping of peony flower heads is a common phenomenon regarded by commentators as either romantic or a curse. It is generally attributed to: 1) rain gathering in the flower petals—a particular...
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Finally, someone tells the truth...
What a beauty!!! AND ain't it just the truth..... Check this out:HOMECHECKOUTShopping Cart: 0 itemsGift CertificatesWish ListMy AccountCatalog Quick OrderWelcome (Log In)Search FeaturedRare...
View ArticleFungus among-us...
It should come as a surprise to no one who's followed the weather in the northeast (rain, anyone? How about more rain, and more and more...) that leaf fungus are making an ugly appearance in the...
View ArticleWinkin', blinkin' and...
In one of the most fascinating reads I've had in a long time, Carl Zimmer talks about fireflies (they're already out you know...) in The New York Times (June 29, 2009). His article "Blink Twice if You...
View ArticleWe're all a-Twitter...
Yes, I broke down and am tweeting on Twitter. You'll find me at @botanicalgarden (you're not the only one that couldn't believe it was still available this late in the game). It's an experiment at the...
View ArticleIT'S ALIVE...IT'S ALIVE!
Like Lazarus, rising from the dead; like Ramonda going from a crispy, brown wafer to a lush, green, LIVING thing after a good soaking rain; like Polypodium polypodioides, Florida's famous...
View ArticleWaking up the Clivia....
They're not exactly Rip-van-Winkles, but the Clivia in my collection HAVE been snoozing since the middle of November--under the bench, no water, no fertilizer. As I witness a bit of rousing from their...
View ArticleNerium oleander harvest...
Nerium oleander, the ubiquitous median tree of highways in Spain and elsewhere around the Mediterranean, has ripened its seed capsules in the front room of our New Jersey home. NOTA BENE: Oleander is...
View ArticleRolling the dice...
Moving plants out from their indoor safe-havens when winter is past (?) is always a little dicey. Edible figs (Ficus carica cvrs.) which began leafing out weeks ago in the basement, just couldn't wait...
View ArticleShowers BEFORE April....
We've had no shortage of moisture here in west-central New Jersey this year, but yesterday's rain was a tipping-point weather event. Apparently the rain, in combination with air and ground temperature...
View ArticleSTOP!
Things moving too fast? Spring's flying by here. The bulbs are half-way home and lots of little rock garden stuff is popping into flower everywhere. Before you know it the perennials will be putting on...
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